Syllabus

daisyowl, @daisyowl if you ever code something that "feels like a hack but it works," just remember that a CPU is literally a rock that we tricked into thinking. Reply: daisyowl, @daisyowl not to oversimplify: first you have to flatten the rock and put lightning inside it.

Goals for Today

  • Syllabus Q&A

  • Make sure computers are set up with R, python, quarto, RStudio, and git

  • Check that git works

Syllabus

Contact Info

Tentative Schedule

Tentative schedule of class topics & project due dates
Week Topic Important Dates
1 Intro & HTML Primer
2 Web Scraping
3 Record-based Data and List Processing
4 Application Programming Interfaces
5 PDF Tools
6 Using Appropriate Graphics
7 Dynamic Communication with Shiny
8 Interactive JavaScript Graphics
9 Linked Interactive Graphics Screencast Due
10 Approaches to Big Data Screencast Peer Reviews Due
11 SQL and SQLite
12 Apache Arrow
13 DuckDB
14 Thanksgiving
15 Special Topics
16 Special Topics
17 Finals Final Exam

Course Rhythm

S S M T W R F
Week before Week Start
Textbook Skim Read Work Examples Reading Quiz Assignment-focused review Review difficult concepts Summarize important concepts
Homework Accept assignment & pull Read assignment Work in class Work at home (if necessary) Work in class Submit assignment

Grading

Assignments Weight
Reading Quizzes & Participation 10%
Homework/Labs 50%
Screencast 20%
Final Exam 20%

Grading

Letter grade X + X X -
A 96.5 93.5 89.5
B 86.5 83.5 79.5
C 76.5 73.5 69.5
D 66.5 63.5 60.5
F <60.5

Major Assignments

  • Screencast

    • guidelines available by Week 4

  • Final Exam:

    • In class component + take-home component

    • Take-home will happen during “dead week”

    • In class portion during final exam period

AI Use Policy

  • Using AI to write code (Don’t!)

  • Using AI to explain an error (Ok)

  • Using AI to write explanations (Don’t)

  • If you use AI

    • Document the use, version, input, and output
    • Provide a diff of your submission vs. the AI output

Oral Exams

  • I reserve the right to replace any grade with an oral exam on your submission

  • Allows me to clarify how much you understand when that isn’t clear

  • Helps when I write an ambiguous question or you miss a key part of a question

  • If you can’t explain your code/answer you don’t get any credit

Some Things About Me

2 kids (and a Ryan)

Ivy “Mischief” Q-tip Vanderplas

Edison (Eddie) Eduardo Vanderplas

Class Picture

A cartoon view of 6 heads showing only gross features such as hair, glasses, and facial hair.

Image Source

Preview: Thursday

  • Basics of the internet

  • HTML

  • CSS

  • why JavaScript broke the (scrape-able) internet